Best Pork Vindaloo from Scratch (Step-by-Step)

Made from scratch, easy to make, step-by-step picture recipe for making authentic Pork Vindaloo with useful info & tips. A delicious hot, spicy, sour Pork Vindaloo from Goa (India).
Authentic vindaloo should be spicy from Vindaloo spice mix, hot & red from chilies, sweet from jaggery/palm sugar, and sour from vinegar and/or tamarind.

Considering just how good it tastes, if you want to try the real one, your best bet is to make it yourself (unless you have got a Goan chef nearby). Here is how to make Pork Vindaloo from scratch. Trust me, it is really easy to make if you have all the ingredients.

What is Vindaloo ?

Pork Vindaloo is a popular dish in Goa, a state on the southwestern Indian coast, and a fusion of Portuguese and Goan cooking. Authentic Pork Vindaloo is not a curry with gravy but more of a dry sauce-based pickled pork dish, which tastes better as it ages.

It is thought to be an adaption of Portuguese carne de vinha d’alhos (Garlic Wine Marinated Pork). The Portuguese dish is wine and garlic-based stew typically made with pork. However, after the dish was introduced to Goa, it changed to what we now know as the Vindaloo with the addition of chilies, spices, vinegar, etc.

HOW TO SERVE & STORE

You can serve it with plain white rice, yellow rice, pilau rice fried rice or biryani. It also goes well with chapattis, naan, paratha, boiled potatoes, or bread. And leftovers can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to week. You can also freeze it.

USEFUL INFO + TIPS
TO MAKE Pork vindaloo

It is really easy to make if you have all the ingredients. So, before you start this Pork Vindaloo recipe, make sure you have organized all the necessary ingredients. You can use ingredients and spices in different quantities to adjust the dish according to your taste.

Steps to make Pork Vindaloo

1. Make the Vindaloo curry powder
2. Make ginger garlic paste with vinegar
3. Marinate the pork
4. Cook

What Ingredients are in Pork Vindaloo?

Vindaloo curry powder or spice mix

When making vindaloo from scratch, the first thing you need to do is to make the vindaloo curry powder. The ingredients I used to make this curry powder is enough for making a curry with about 1 kg of meat. As I used about 500 g pork to make this pork vindaloo, I made Vindaloo chicken with extra curry powder.

Which Spices to Use in curry powder

The spices used in vindaloo curry powder are cinnamon, clove, cardamom, cumin, coriander, black pepper, turmeric, and mustard seeds. And I used a fair number of chilies to add both red color and heat. And I de-seeded them before roasting. You can adjust the number of chilies as you like to make a hotter, or milder vindaloo.

Which Spices to Use in curry

I used mustard seeds, cinnamon sticks, whole clove, cardamom, and chili powder to flavor the sauce when cooking in addition to vindaloo curry powder.

Other ingredients

Pork, oil, onion, ginger, garlic, tamarind, vinegar, and brown sugar.

The meat

I made it with pork. You can also make this vindaloo with beef, chicken, or lamb.

Vinegar

Vinegar is one of the main ingredients in this recipe. It helps to tender meat, gives tangy flavor to the sauce, and also acts as a preserving agent. In Goa, they use palm vinegar. In Japan, I use rice vinegar. You can also use coconut vinegar, white wine vinegar, or cider vinegar.

Chili

I added chili powder for red color rather than heat. Here in Japan, I usually use South Korean red chili powder, a mild chili powder with nice red color. You can use chilies and chili powder according to your preferences.

Tamarind/tamarind pulp

Tamarind, a souring agent, is fruitier and less sharp than vinegar and it adds sweetish tanginess to this dish. You can make tamarind liquid by soaking the tamarind pods or pulp in about 50 ml of hot water for about 10 minutes. If they have seeds, please discard them before adding them to the vindaloo.

Jaggery/palm sugar

In Goa, they also add jaggery or palm sugar to Vindaloo. I remember that when I made Vindaloo for the first time, I was a bit reluctant to add sugar. However, as I wanted to make real Vindaloo, I had to give it a try. Then I realized the reason to add sugar. Vindaloo is a kind of pickle-like meat dish cooked with a lot of vinegar, tamarind, chilies, and spices. So, to balance the sourness and heat, adding sugar is perfectly acceptable. Not like white refined sugar, Jaggery/palm sugar adds a mild nice sweetness, you cannot even notice it. You can substitute Jaggery/palm sugar with cane sugar or coconut sugar. However, adding sugar is up to you.

Useful Tips

Make Vindaloo a day before

Vindaloo is almost like pickled meat, so it gets better with time. This dish tastes even better a day or two after cooking, so making the vindaloo a day before would be perfect as this allows more time for the flavors to be absorbed by the meat.

Marination

Some recipes call for marination overnight. However, you can marinate it in just 2 to 4 hs, hopefully, the vinegar in the marinade will do the job fast.

Cook with minimal water

Cook the pork in its own juices or with minimal water for a flavorful sauce.

Add little water if needed

It’s important not to let the vindaloo dry out, so make sure to check every so often and add a splash of water if the pot looks like it is running dry.

Check on it and stir every so often

Check on it and stir every so often throughout the cooking process.

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Pork vindaloo (Step-by-Step Recipe)

Preparation 20 min
Marination 2 hours
Cooking Time 1 hour
Yields 5 to 6 servings

Ingredients

To Make Vindaloo Curry Powder (For about 1 kg Meat)

• 15 dried red chilies (small), seeds are shaken out
• 2 tablespoons coriander seeds
• 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon fennel
• 4 green cardamom pods
• 5 cloves
• 1-inch cinnamon stick
• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1/2 tablespoon black peppercorns
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

to make ginger garlic paste

• 10 cloves garlic
• 2-inch ginger
• 2 tablespoons vinegar

For the curry

• 500 g pork shoulder, cut into cubes

For the marinade

• 1 tablespoon Vindaloo curry powder
• 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon vinegar

For cooking

• 2 tablespoon oil
• 1/2 teaspoon whole mustard
• 300 g onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
• 3 cloves
• 3 cardamom
• 1-inch cinnamon stick
• 1 tablespoon vindaloo curry powder
• salt to taste
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 5 pods of tamarind, soaked in 50ml of water
• 1 tablespoon cane sugar (or palm sugar/Jaggery)

Instruction

Gather the ingredients for making Vindaloo Curry Powder

First, dry roast dried red chilies for about 1 minute until slightly brown.

And then add coriander seeds and dry roast for about a minute.

Turn off the heat, add all other ingredients except turmeric powder and dry roast for about 20 seconds.

Let cool and grind them into a powder.

Add turmeric powder and mix well.

Vindaloo Curry Powder is ready.

Grind garlic and ginger into a paste with vinegar.

Soaked tamarind in water (about 50 ml).

Cut the pork into pieces.

 Add vindaloo curry powder, ginger garlic paste, salt, and vinegar.

Mix well and let marinate for 2 hours in the fridge.

Add oil to a pan on medium heat, followed by mustard seeds.

Once the mustard seeds start to crack, add the onions, ginger garlic paste, cinnamon, clove, and cardamom.

Fry until lightly brown, about 10 minutes.

Add curry powder, chili powder and salt.

And stir-fry for about 2 minutes.

Now add the marinated pork and brown gently over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes.

Add soaked tamarind with water and mix well. (remove the seeds before adding)

Bring to a simmer, cover and cook for about 30 min over low heat until the meat is tender.

Check on every so often and stir it occasionally. If it looks like drying out, add a splash of water.

Uncover and let the pork cook in its juices. Make sure to check once or twice in between and stir the curry.

Add sugar and mix well.

Once the consistency of the sauce is to your liking, turn off the heat and allow the curry to rest for 15-30 minutes for the flavors to blend.

Serve with rice or bread. Enjoy!

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